What is cloud security posture management or CSPM?
Cloud security posture management (CSPM) is a key element of cloud data security that scans cloud environments and alerts security teams to configuration vulnerabilities and compliance risks in cloud services.
CSPM automates the identification and restoration of risk across cloud infrastructures, including Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). CSPM can be utilised for risk assessment and visualisation, compliance monitoring, incident response, and DevOps integration, and can help when it comes to applying best practices for cloud security to multi-cloud, hybrid, and container environments.
Why do we need cloud security posture management?
Cloud services and cloud-based applications are providing organisations around the world with new levels of flexibility and productivity. But with the cloud comes greater risk of cybersecurity threats and data breaches. As cloud services are open to the internet, security issues frequently arise, and new vulnerabilities are often detected which not only puts sensitive data at risk but can threaten the integrity of your business.
IT security teams and business leaders are constantly working to address the following:
- Data breaches caused by misconfigurations of cloud infrastructure:
The misconfiguration of cloud infrastructure can expose sensitive data, leading to legal liability, financial losses, and reputational damage.
- Continuous monitoring and compliance for cloud apps:
Traditional tools and processes are unable to continuously monitor compliance on cloud apps and workloads. Security teams must keep on top of ensuring cloud apps are compliant.
- Cloud governance:
Cloud governance alongside cloud adoption is crucial within any organisation.
Breaking down CSPM
Cloud security posture management can protect your organisation in three distinct ways:
- It allows wider visibility into your organisation’s cloud assets and configurations. Enterprise CSPM will help uncover misconfigurations, changes in metadata and policy, and much more. It will also help security teams manage these policies through a centralised console.
- Manage and remediate misconfigurations. By comparing your organisation’s cloud configurations against sector rules and industry standards, it reduces human error and the overall risk of breaches.
- It will also help your organisation uncover potential threats. By monitoring your cloud environments in real time, cloud security posture management will look for inappropriate access and anomalies that indicates malicious activity.
What are the key capabilities of cloud security posture management?
CSPM services can take advantage of automation capabilities via continuous monitoring, which can correct issues without delay or for the need of human intervention.
Let’s take a closer look at what it can do for your organisation:
- Continuously monitor your cloud environment for the creation of new storage resources or instances – S3 buckets being one of the most popular.
- Ensure consistent enforcement and provide policy visibility across all providers in multi-cloud environments.
- Scan your organisation’s compute instances for improper settings and misconfigurations that could leave them open to attack.
- Scan storage buckets for misconfigurations that could leave data unprotected and accessible to the public.
- Regular audits for adherence to regulatory compliance mandates such as PCI, HIPAA, DSS, and GDPR.
- CSPM can help when performing risk assessments against external standards and frameworks such as those by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
- Ensure that operational activities are being performed correctly.
- Automate remediation or ensure one-click remediation.
Get in touch with RiskXchange to find out more about cloud security posture.
How RiskXchange can help
RiskXchange is one of the firms leading the fight against cybercrime, coming up with novel solutions to everyday problems experienced at the hands of hackers. Not only can RiskXchange help with cloud security posture management but will also ensure that your organisation is safe and secure at all times.